How To Become A Career Guidance Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a career guidance counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a career guidance counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.17 an hour? That's $54,429 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 32,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a career guidance counselor?

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University

Counseling Services (school counseling concentration) and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (we have a CMHC concentration and a Dance Movement Therapy concentration in this program). The general advice I would give to graduates starting positions in the counseling field would be to understand the critical importance of the work of helping professionals. Counselors optimally provide a safe space for clients to discuss their fears, worries, anxieties, joys, traumas, insecurities, accomplishments, etc. This ability to be an empathic, listening, accepting presence will be even more crucial for clients in our current situation.

ScoreCareer Guidance CounselorUS Average

Salary

4.3

Avg. Salary $54,429

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 3.74%

Black or African American 10.64%

Hispanic or Latino 14.20%

Unknown 3.76%

White 67.03%

Gender

female 63.37%

male 36.63%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

9.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a career guidance counselor

Explore career guidance counselor education requirements

Most common career guidance counselor degrees

Bachelor's

53.9 %

Master's

28.1 %

Associate

10.1 %

Start to develop specific career guidance counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
PSAT	36.92%
K-12	31.57%
GED	31.51%

Complete relevant career guidance counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New career guidance counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a career guidance counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real career guidance counselor resumes.

Research career guidance counselor duties and responsibilities

Utilize Salesforce to manage advertising programs for business owners.
Shadow middle school guidance counselor during student counseling sessions, individualize education program (IEP) meetings, and staff meetings
Participate in weekly student services/crisis team meetings and regular IEP meetings.
Remain non-denominational, open, flexible and ecumenical in service to patients while also providing additional resources from local spiritual communities.

Prepare your career guidance counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your career guidance counselor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a career guidance counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable career guidance counselor resume templates

Build a professional career guidance counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your career guidance counselor resume.

Apply for career guidance counselor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a career guidance counselor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do career guidance counselors rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Career guidance counselor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2019

Pros

Helping people find their own paths, incorporating values and interests. I love it when people identify what they really want and get excited about working towards it.